The History of the Great Knights
The Great Knights were a conglomerate of numerous warrior cultures that participated in a series of crusades against the Serpentine and their followers (precursors to Chaos), founded by Belfaenar Rochir. After many years of war and even Rochir's death, the Serpentine were finally obliterated and their stolen treasures recaptured, save for their Queen, named Medusa, who went into hiding in the Maxilla Peninsula. Now lacking an objective, the remaining Great Knight leaders, led by Jygarn Invincibilis turned their attention to other races in Cranium, such as the Dirvishes, who had aided the Serpentine, and began attacking them, establishing their own nation in the process. Since leaders had to maintain authority to keep the patchwork of cultures and races in order, they became increasingly authoritarian. In the end, many of their members were killed or, ironically, joined Medusa, when Chaos arrived to conquer them, becoming her first Juggerknights. The Great Crusades The Serpentine were originally foreign to the world of Inamorta, being summoned by a cult of mages to serve them. These mages were, however, too weak to control the Serpentine, who instead took control, and began savagely attacking and pillaging settlements throughout Western Inamorta and seizing magical items which they saw as being sufficiently powerful. One of the victims of this was the Rochir family, who were traditionally all knights. When Belfaenar Rochir, the heir to the Rochir estate, returned from fighting in the Desert to his home in Westwind, he found that his entire family, save for his five children and his sister that came with him, had been brutally slaughtered by the Serpentine. Unwilling to simply rebuild, he swore revenge on the Serpentine, gathering many warriors from across Westwind to attack Cranium (Northern Inamorta), where the Serpentine were based. This first crusade navigated their way through the Murmurkos Straits (between the Maxilla Peninsula and the Desert), landing on the coast of Symphramus (the region between the Ice Hills and the Eagle Mountains, also referred to as the Ramus region), where the locals had been terrorised by the Serpentine, who at this point had begun to carve up Cranium into their own realms. Belfaenar's army set about targeting the Serpentine and destroying their armies, killing several in the process. Within a year, the so-called Great Knights had liberated most of the Ramus region and liberated many stolen artefacts, naming their expedition the First Great Crusade. However, the Great Knights at this point were depleted to around a few thousand in strength - including local Ramal volunteers such as Jygarn Invincibilis and Darvink Havik, with many more wounded, and they knew that the Serpentine would return in full strength to crush them and use the artefacts for their own, nefarious purposes. Knowing that the fate of Inamorta was potentially at stake, Belfaenar sent messengers throughout Inamorta. While most of the nations in the East were still developing and fighting amongst each other, the nation of Pertland was eager to get rid of their vicious warrior class, having established a peaceful civilisation. Many of these warriors were reinvigorated with the opportunity to fight for a worthy cause other than Pertland's expansion, and many left for Ramus to join these Great Knights. Another region that contributed many warriors was the island of Riff. Colonised by multiple warring clans, the Riff were a suitably battle-hardened people. Due to its location near the east coast of Ramus and a temporary peace with most of the clans, many thousands of Riff warriors led by the charismatic Malendor Sihanouk left to join as well. Belfaenar's sister, Saelara, had remained in Westwind to help the rebuilding process but was informed of the impending danger to Inamorta by Belfaenar and decided to lead a larger group of warriors to reinforce her brother. Having studied the Serpentine intently, she knew that they would almost certainly target Belfaenar's knights to recover the numerous magical artefacts which they required to refuel their powers to survive in Inamorta. Unfortunately, the Serpentine were sufficiently cunning to sabotage many ports along the Westwind coast, making naval travel much less possible. Still determined, Saelara decided to march the warriors she had with her into the Ice Hills, persuading the people of Westwind that this military expedition would end the Serpentine once and for all. After several weeks of travel, the amassed column of warriors encountered Dirvishes, servants of the Serpentine, who were preparing to attack the Great Knights from the south as per the orders of the Serpentine. Saelara ambushed and destroyed many of their rallying points, leaving a trail of dead Dirvishes as they marched through the Ice Hills on the (at this point) dangerous Carotid Road for several months, and ruining the plans of the Serpentine. This was regarded as the Second Great Crusade as it successfully immobilised much of the Dirvishes' fighting capability and forced them deeper into the mountains. Despite their victory, Saelara had also lost many more warriors and met up with Belfaenar to recuperate her forces in the ancient city of Invinojug. There, all the Great Knights had rallied and prepared a defence against the anticipated Serpentine attack. During that wait a few other warriors from Inamorta came to aid the Great Knights, such as Speartons and Swordwrath, although their numbers were very limited. Finally, the attack came three months after the end of the Second Great Crusade. Invinojug was sheltered by the Eagle Mountains to its North and so the main point of entry would be either through the Eagle Pass or the Theryn Coast to its west. The Great Knights successfully ambushed and defeated the Serpentines at the Eagle Pass, while they were defeated at the Theryn Coast. Regardless, the leadership of Belfaenar and Saelara's tactical genius ensured that the Serpentine army that broke through was utterly obliterated as it reached Invinojug, and all remnants were mercilessly hunted down and destroyed. Afterwards, they targeted the Dirvish strongholds in the Eagle and Engrin Mountains. This series of battles was known as the Third Great Crusade. Unable to take Invinojug, the High King of the Serpentine, Typhon decided to hunt for other magical artefacts and sources. His scouts found that the homeland of the Magikill was rich in a form of energy known as mana, and Typhon diverted his attention to attacking there instead. Realising that the Serpentine had discovered the Magikill, Saelara and Belfaenar left with half of the Great Knights to destroy them at the Westerrun Isthmus (connecting East and West Inamorta). This was regarded as the Fourth Great Crusade, and saw the death of numerous notable Serpentine. In fact, during the Battle of Hyaromenduin Bay, Saelara's expertly laid trap ensnared and killed 6 of the 14 marine Serpentine in existance, a massive blow to their navy, and all 17 of the Serpentine tasked with invading the Magikill were killed, bringing the total losses to 23, inflicting irreversible damage upon the Serpentine. Weakened by their failed probe into Southern Inamorta, the Serpentine began to recuperate their losses, levying massive Dirvish and now Crawler armies to aid them. It was then that Belfaenar decided to attack: the Great Knights would not be receiving any significant reinforcements if they waited and the Serpentine were still weak. So began the Fifth Great Crusade. Only a month after returning to Invinojug, Darvink's fleet of ships landed on the beaches of the Nasar Peninsula, carrying with them many Great Knights. Yet, Belfaenar's attack was to be ill-fated. The costly naval Battle of Westmursea lost a quarter of the Crusade, albeit 2 more Serpentine were killed. When they landed, Typhon himself was leading the defense and the Great Knight beachhead was soon swarmed by Crawlers and Dirvishes. Only Belfaenar's contingent were successful in breaking through, and they were caught in a trap reminiscent of the Third and Fourth Great Crusades. Completely surrounded, Belfaenar had to fight his way out back to Darvink's fleet, losing several thousands of soldiers and even his eldest son. The Fifth Great Crusade had been a complete failure. Notwithstanding, it still had a purpose. Saelara had refused to launch the Fifth Great Crusade, knowing the risks of fighting in a region the Serpentine had fortified, but she was also unwilling to leave the Crusade as a failure. Therefore, she led a small navy to sabotage the western harbour where a large Serpentine fleet, as well as two aquatic Serpentine, had amassed to assault Westwind. In a single fire ship attack, half the fleet was destroyed and both Serpentine were grievously wounded during the panic. Now, the Serpentine were unable to launch any other offensives apart from against the Great Knights. At this stage, Typhon had lost many of his children to the Great Knights and the 30 or so Serpentine, including Medusa, a relative of Typhon, were eager for revenge. Only two marine Serpentine were alive and Typhon planned to encircle the Great Knights in their stronghold of Northern Ramus, and subsequently cut off all escape routes, save for the Eagle Pass, where a few Serpentine were hiding in ambush. Typhon hoped to divide the Great Knights between those who would remain to fight, and those who chose to escape throigh the pass, and destroy both of them in detail. Despite this cunning plan, Typhon had underestimated Saelara. Receiving reports of Serpentine movements towards the Eagle Mountains, when the attack came she revealed the information to all of the Knights, ensuring that they all knew they were completely surrounded. Although this demoralised many, Belfaenar roused their war favour through his infamous speech, uniting all the Knights for war, proclaiming this to be the Sixth and Final Crusade. Typhon's plans had come to naught. The entire Great Knight army assembled on a field outside Invinojug, anticipating the enemy attack. Typhon wanted to starve them out, or at least wait to see if the Knights would divide, but the eagerness of some Serpentine for revenge immediately foiled his plans. A few of them split off to assault the main Citadel, but we're rapidly overwhelmed on their own by Darvink Havik and Malendor Sihanouk's armies. Category:Great Knights